


The Nanny

by deerlord_97



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: F/F, nanny - Freeform, relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:39:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13010895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deerlord_97/pseuds/deerlord_97
Summary: What happens when a new “family” member comes into the Rhett and Link universe?New chapter every Monday :)





	1. The ad

Pt. 1: the ad  
“Nanny/tutor needed for Burbank family. Serious inquiries only, college degree preferred in order to help tutor as well. Can live on premises or have rent paid up to ~$900. Email our assistant for more info and meeting time”

Sarah saw this as the perfect out from her uneventful teaching job. 

As she typed her response and attached her resume, she couldn’t help but hear her mother saying she was rushing into this, and being a naive young adult on the internet. What if it was a hoax? She had watched a few episodes of Good Mythical Morning, and she figured from that small amount that Mr. Neal had to be decent enough. 

Two hours later, her email dinged: it was Christy, the wife. 

“Good afternoon! We have looked at your resume and already jumped the gun with hiring you! We hope you can leave this week. Book your flight and send us the info so we can reimburse you. 

Sarah read the email in disbelief. She was given an opportunity to move to LA and make money just to watch some kids. She replied without hesitation and started to pack.


	2. pt 2: the arrival

Sarah's plane landed at 12:02, 20 minutes early. She lightly fidgeted with her ring, as she usually does when anxious. "What did i get myself into?". Her thoughts were a flurry of why and who and what and where. As she disembarked the plane, it finally hit her: she was in Los Angeles. It was November, but it had to be at least 80 degrees. She glanced around at the hundreds of people walking passed her, and she noticed they were all wearing sweaters. This struck her as odd, as she had to take her jacket off from sweating. Was this considered their fall? It was an interesting concept. New Orleans didn't quite get a true fall either, but it was at least sweater weather throughout the year. 

Her directions were to meet her new family at baggage claim. Due to her flight being early, the claim was empty. Sarah only wished her mind was as empty as the terminal. All she could think about was if this was a good idea or not. 

As the bags finally began to pour out, she realized Christy Neal was nowhere to be found. She thought it would be easy to sight a blonde with bouncing curls, but then remembered it was California, and sensed blonde was a lot more common. She was starting to doubt this whole thing; maybe her mother was right. How silly could she have been to th-

"Hello! We've been stuck in traffic for an hour! Where are my manners, I/m Christy!" She grabbed sarah tightly, but in a nurturing way. "Hi, I'm Lily, you have great eyebrows!" Sarah was overcome with emotions, as her worry suddenly drifted away. "it's great to meet you guys, I am of course Sarah. And thanks, my eyebrows are basically my pride and joy." They all laughed and walked to the car. 

Her spirits were high and heavy at the same time as the sight of her new "family". As they drove along the freeway, her and Christy and Lily spoke about different foods they liked, and how they were going to redecorate the bathroom. They asked Sarah for her input, which was nice, and made her feel more comfortable on the muggy drive back to Burbank. The scenery was unreal, and the hillls brought pleasure to sarah, as she was used to the flatness of Louisiana. 

When they pulled into the Neal's driveway, Sarah found a huge lump in her stomach. Not only were there two other cars in the driveway, but also two tall men. She recognized them immediately: Rhett and Link.

Sarah Gracefully got her bags and marched up the driveway, accompanied by Lily asking what kind of music she liked. The two men stopped chatting and quickly averted their eyes to Sarah. They made their way up to her and both stuck out their hands simultaneously, almost trying to see who's hand she would shake first. She went for Link, making Rhett give a defeated sigh. 

"So, you're the new mommy?" Rhett said jokingly, a huge grin on his bearded face as he eyed Link, now giving him a sharp stare. 

"Yeah, are you the new butler? If so, here are my bags." Sarah said this without hesitation, and realized the new group didn't know her sense of humor yet, and a slight panic crossed her. 

The tall man blushed and made a bashful smile, while both eyebrows shot up, almost impressed. Christy and Link both howled with laughter as they refered to Rhett as the butler. 

"Man, that was quick! You'll fit in just right here." Linlk said, which calmed Sarah down. "We've been needing some help for quite a while. Let's get you to your room."

By now it was just Sarah and the Neal's, as they lead her through the long hallway to her own bedroom suite. She passed many family pictures, some good and some meant for comedic effect. The home felt warm and cozy. They showed her to her room, which had a walk in closet that could have been another room.

"This'll be like your own personal oasis, treat her good now" Christy said is a gentle town. "IF the kids are ever to much, you could just play hide and seek and hide in here!" Link made a boyish smile and made himself laugh, christy rolling her eyes in a playful way. 

"Dinner is at 6:30, but we totally understand f you need sleep. We'll make a plate and keep it on the over for ya. Just remember, this is your home now." Christy really new how to make a guest feel welcome. Sarah was so happy and relived that this was actually happening that she thought it was a dream.


	3. pt 3: dinner and a show

“Do you say y’all?” “Did you know if you pee in the shower you can get foot cancer?” These were just some questions Sarah was asked at dinner by the two boys, Lando and Lincoln. 

“Boys, sarah had a long flight, leave her be”.” Christy interjected as she flashed Sarah a calm, apologetic smile. 

“Sarah, do you have a boyfriend?” Lily asked and the whole table got quiet. Christy didn’t seem to bothered, but Sarah couldn’t help but notice how fast Link’s head shot up, as if needing to know the answer. 

“No lily, fortunately I came here with no baggage, other than the ones upstairs. Do you?” 

Lily blushed and shyly said “of course not! I’m too smart for boys my age.” She seemed very pleased with her answer, Christy nodding in agreement, Link still holding a slight gaze in Sarah’s direction. 

By the time dinner was done, it was 9:30, and the boys needed to get ready for bed. Lily was the oldest, so she had say as to when she went to bed. Everyone had been enjoying the conversation that they lost track of the time. 

“Honey, if you need fresh towels, they’re in the cabinet right under the bathroom sink. There should be hangers in the closet. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask me or Link.” Christy said down the hallway, simultaneously brushing her teeth. 

“Christy?” Sarah asked softly. 

“Mhm?” 

“Thank you so much for doing this for me, I really don’t know what to say. I still think this is fake and I’ll wake up back in Louisiana tomorrow morning.”

“You’re too sweet, go on to bed. We’ll go over all the kid’s schedules tomorrow morning.” Christy walked back down the hallway to her room. 

Sarah heard Link’s heavy footsteps walking up the stairs, but suddenly noticed a pause outside her door. She got up to go see, but by the time she was off the bed Link had already knocked. 

“Come in”

Link popped his head in, showing only above his nose, bringing an extra blanket. 

“We like to keep it cold here, I wouldn’t be surprised if you need this. Sleep well”

Sarah knew there was something intriguing about Link, and she couldn’t t help but feel a little attracted to him. He had dark, blown out hair and a slight 5o’clock shadow. His tight sweat pants showed off every curve off his legs, and she’s be lying if she said she didn’t look. 

Sarah quickly shook the thoughts out of her head as she realized Christy was home. This was wrong. Her first day in the house and already thinking like this? She lay her head on the Dow pillow and fell asleep within a minute to the sound of a waterfall, courtesy of Rhett.


	4. the routine

Sarah woke up to the bright Burbank sun shinning through the blinds of the big room. For a moment she forgot where she was. She remembered that today was the day that Christy went over the schedules and duties of this situation. This got her attention, and she quickly got presentable and headed downstairs. 

As soon as Sarah opened her door, she could already smell fresh coffee; good sign. She made her way downstairs to the bright kitchen to see Christy’s blonde hair pulled into a messy but somehow perfect bun. She’d have to ask how she did it. There were two mugs sitting on the bar table, just waiting to have two women sitting there. 

“Good morning! How’s the bed work out?” Christy asked in a sweet tone. 

“It was great, my head sank into the pillow and I was out within a minute.” Sarah replied with maybe a little too much umph. 

Christy chuckled and signaled for the two of them to go to the bar. As they sat down, she started to open up a binder, basically a Neal Family itinerary. 

“Now Sarah, I don’t want you thinking that we’re some scheduled family that only sticks to the book. Since the kids are getting older now, the opportunity for me to work is becoming a reality once again. This is a big thing for our family, since I’ve always been home.” 

“Of course, let me just say I think it’s great that you’re doing what you want to do now. It’s very admirable” Sarah said as she sipped the hot coffee, that was perfect. She would also have to ask how she did that. 

Christy blushed. “I think it will be good for the family that you’re here instead of a family member, as they don’t really have anyone else to talk to at home. Lily seems to already really like you, and Lando actually spoke, which is rare since he’s so shy.”

“I do have a meeting in about an hour, so I think I’ll head of for that. The keys to the car are in the bowl by the garage door, make sure to lock up. Jade can stay inside as Lin as you bring her outside before you leave. No clue when I’ll be one yet, so I’d say just to be safe to be ready to get the kids from school today. You’ll do great!” 

Christy strode our the front door so fast that  
Sarah hadn’t completely said goodbye yet. She sipped her coffee, and decided to do maybe the weirdest thing: watch the day’s episode of Good Mythical Morning.


	5. school’s out

ch 5: schools out 

Three hours and 2 dozen episodes of GMM later, Sarah realized it was already 12:30, and had an hour to get ready before picking up the youngest, Lando, from school. 

She ran upstairs, past all the family photos once again, and hopped in the shower. The shower head was unlike once she’d ever seen, and had about 8 different settings on it. 

She got her hair ready and decided to put makeup on, not knowing how the LA moms would look picking up their kids, and didn’t want to embarrass he family by looking like she just woke up. 

It was 1 at this point, and had 10 minutes to spare. She took this as an opportunity to explore. 

Sarah headed down the hallway and peaked her head into the master bedroom, since the door was already open. She didn’t dare go in, since it wasn’t her place. Just seeing how clean it was made her feel comfortable, but then remembered she should make her own bed. 

She flew down the stairs and tried to remembered where Christy said the keys were. Garage! 

She opened the door to the garage and saw a shiny Jeep. Was this real? Sarah wondered if they had always had that car or if they bought it specifically for her. Regardless, she hopped in and made her way out towards Lando’s school. 

Sarah would have to get used to stop and go traffic one way or another, so this was the beat time she thought. The turn lane for the school was as long as a football field, but she had no way to control it. What would Christy do? 

The moment Sarah pulled into the school she remembered she had to go to the school’s office and make her a registered pick up/drop off guardian of the kids. 

The people in the school office were confused to see someone so young filling this out, but didn’t ask too many questions. Was 25 young? Sarah took this as a complement. 

She hopped back in the Jeep and returned to the pick up spot. Within a minute she saw Lando running towards the Jeep at full speed with a huge smile, eyes full of young happiness. Sarah felt her heart swell up and couldn’t believe that this little boy was bringing her so much warmth. 

Lando hopped into the car and had papers in his hands. He was 7 so they weren’t doing too much homework, and still some drawing. He showed Sarah his drawings and how he was writing full sentences in cursive. The whole ride Lando talked about his dinosaur collection and how much he likes to draw, and Sarah could t believe how open he was. Christy had warned that he was very shy, but it seemed like this was a whole new kid. 

By the time they left Lando’s school, it was time for pickup at Lincoln’s. For his, she also had to stop by the office. She was early which made her feel better since it was a big school. 

Sarah and Lincoln were sitting at a bench when someone came yp to them. 

“So you’re the new Neal!” A short brunette woman said lightly to her. 

“I must be! Word spreads fast in La, huh? Are you a friend of the family?” Sarah asked, a little confused. 

“Oh my! I’m sorry, I’m Jessie, Rhett’s wife. My son goes here as well. We stop by all the time, so we’ll get to be real close I’m sure. How’s it been so far?” 

Jessie was so genuine and was actually wanting to talk, not just LA nice. Sarah could tell she was from the south. 

“It’s been great, the whole family is so welcoming. Will you guys stop by at all? I would love to get to know y’all” Sarah said and she started to dig for her keys. 

“Of course! I’ll text Christy, maybe we’ll come for dinner tonight. Mind giving me your nunber? Just in case.” Jessie found her phone in back pocket and handed it to Sarah. 

“It was great meeting you, talk soon.” Sarah hurried along to meet up with Lincoln at the pick up spot. 

“I completely forgot you were picking me up and was looking for my moms car everywhere!” Lincoln said, trying to contain his laughter. Maybe the kids really did like her. 

“Hey Sarah, do you think we could stop by target really quick? The new captain underpants book just came out and I’ve saved enough allowance for it!” Lincoln was panting and ready for Sarah’s answer. 

Sarah looked at the clock and didn’t need to get Lily for another hour. Why not. 

“You got it bud”

Lincoln found his book and ran to the registers. Sarah and Lando weren’t too far behind when Sarah looked at her phone. She had a text from Link. 

“Hey Sarah, Jessie said y’all met today and was wondering about dinner tonight, is that cool with you? Christy has a banquet tonight so won’t be there. Link.”

Sarah felt the flush of redness as she read the text: Christy wouldn’t be there. It would be her, link, Rhett, and his wife Jessie. Would the kids be there? 

Sarah replied “no that’s totally cool with me, thanks for checking.” Very good, cool way to play it. 

 

She also noticed that they had 20 minutes to get to Lily’s school, it was time to go. 

Picking up Lily was a breeze, and she had lots to say about the “stupid” boys in her classes, and Lando had fallen asleep in the back seat. 

It was 4:30 by the time they got home, and Link would be home by 6. She had a lot to get ready for tonight.


	6. dinner party

As Sarah got all the kids inside from school, she quickly realized what was happening. She was having lunch with the family friends, and Link. But no Christy. Would that be weird? She wondered why Christy couldn’t come, but the thought slipped out of her mind as she arrived to her room. 

Sarah looked in her closet and couldn’t think what to wear. “Classy or sassy?” She asked herself. She opted for skinny jeans and a cold shoulder top, making sure to expose her tanned shoulders. She found a nice necklace and did her hair and makeup, since Jessie looked like she enjoyed getting dressed up. Hopefully she wouldn’t look like she tried too hard. 

6:15 came around and there was a thud downstairs of keys clashing on the counter. It had to be Link. Sarah didn’t know if she should go downstairs and make her presence known, or just stay in her room. She opted for sitting at the desk and listening to music. 

Link started walking down the hallways and knocked on Sarah’s door. 

“There’s no way you like The Pharcyde! That’s awesome. I have a few of their vinyls in my office, wanna see?” Link said as he rushed to his room. 

Sarah got up a little too fast and walked down the wide corridor, not remembering which door was which. Was this weird? She didn’t know if it was appropriate, but her mind got ahead of her and she opened the door. 

Sarah was relieved when she saw lily sitting with Jade in the office as well, clearly interested in what was going on. 

Link put on the record and looked up with a huge grin, nudging Lily in the rib to not laugh at him bobbing his head to the beat. 

“This is rad, I love this kind of stuff” Sarah said bashfully, and Link started laughing. 

“You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Just then the doorbell rang, and they heard the door open and a man go “daddy’s home!” It had to be Rhett and Jessie. 

They all walked down the stairs, music still playing, and all gathered at the kitchen counter to talk. 

“So what brought you to Los Angeles Sarah?” Rhett asked

“I was just tired of doing the same thing. New Orleans is great but I needed to be out of the south for a bit. I’m actually from Folsom, about 5 hours north of here.”

“Like Johnny Cash Folsom? You never said that, wow” Link said. 

“How did you not know where the new person in your home was from, Link? Anyways, we’re from the south too. North Carolina, what made you go down?” Jessie said as she took a sip of wine. 

“My parents were divorced and my step dad was from New Orleans. One day we just moved down and next thing I know I’m hearing the word y’all for the first time.” Sarah said as she took a bite of chicken. 

“Well it’s great you’re here, how does your family feel about the move? Or your boyfriend?” Rhett asked but seemed weirded out by his own question, Jessie giving him a smirk. 

“My family was on bard with it. They knew I wasn’t happy. And as for the boyfriend, we broke up months ago. This was the best opportunity I could have gotten, I’m so grateful” Sarah couldn’t believe that her eyes started to swell, but when she looked at Link, she saw that his looked a little glazed as well. Was it from her moving sympathy or the two bottles of wine that had been shared?

As the dinner came to a close, Jessie offered to help clean. Sarah refused and said she really needed to do something since they had brought the food over. 

“Hey man, we’ll see you tomorrow. Remember to get here at 7 since the meeting is later.” Link told Rhett as they were walking through the front door. 

“Tonight was great, hopefully next time Christy can come! See ya soon” Jessie said as they walked to their car. 

Sarah returned to the dishes, and he kids were already fast asleep upstairs. 

Link walked over to put the remaining dishes away on the counter and sat down at the bar. 

“Do you like it so far here? It has been a week and we haven’t really spoken too much. Is everything okay for you? Are we too weird?” Link said sheepishly. 

“Everything is so great, Link. Your kids are absolutely amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better situation than this. You guys really do have the perfect life.” Sarah put the last dish in the washer and turned it on. She sat at the bar, but across from Link to keep her distance. His hair was tossed to the side and he looked tired. 

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like,huh?” Link set his glass down and started refilling it, gesturing to Sarah if she wanted more. She did. 

“Oh?” Sarah asked, curious. 

“Listen. I don’t want you to think we’re some great family unit. If I tell you something, I need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone. Even Rhett.” 

Link’s eyes were piercing her soul. 

“Of course, Link. What’s up?” 

“Christy has been seeing someone else in Santa Barbara. I’ve known about it for 7 months. That’s where she is right now. We haven’t told the kids, but I know Lily is suspicious. She’s too smart for her own good.”

Link took a sip. “We’ve been out of love for a long while, now. Hasn’t felt right for about 2 years. We don’t know why, either. So much counseling. Nothing has helped.”

Sarah took this in and didn’t immediately say anything. “Have you been seeing anyone?” Sarah asked, trying not to seem so interested. 

“I’ve tried. No one catches my attention anymore. But then you got here.”

Shit. What did she say? How does one respond to the fact of your boss liking you? While married?

Sarah let out softly “oh”. Great. Good one. 

“I’m so sorry, this is weird now. I made it weird. Forget I said anything.” Link stood up and tried to walk away, but instead was greeted with a warm hug, and he soon started squeezing Sarah more tight, and it slowly became a more-than-friend hug. 

Sarah didn’t pull away. His tall frame was perfect for hers. She was 5’7 to his 6’. Perfect. Her head rested on his chest and her arms were around his broad shoulders. His large hands wrapped around Sarah, grasping her ribs. He was latched to her. His smell was intoxicating. 

Just then, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They broke off the hug ad returned quickly to sitting down across from each other. 

“Daddy, can you come stand by the bathroom?” Lando whispered, coming up next to Sarah and hugging her leg.”

“Of course. Be right there, tell me when you’re in” 

Lando raced up the stairs. “In!” He loudly whispered. 

Link stood up from the stool and walked over to Sarah, hugging her again. “Thanks for the talk. We’ll continue it tomorrow. Goodnight” and he kissed her cheek softly before walking up the stairs. 

This just got a whole lot more complicating. Sarah brought herself to her bed and laid down in her clothes.


	7. awkward eye contact

It had been 9 days since the night of the dinner party incident. Sarah was still shaken up about it. Each time she passed Link in the house alone, she had no clue whether to talk or just stay silent. She had noticed he had started spending more time at work; definitely not a coincidence. It was getting hard to pretend the tension wasn't there, especially in front of Christy. 

Christy had also been gone a good amount of time. Sarah found herself alone with the kids a lot, which she was actually thankful for. Her and Lily would go to the library together almost every day, and were trying to bake every recipe in one of Lily's cooking books. Lincoln swam a lot, and sarah would show him how to proper strokes and try to coach him. Lando always tried to get her to color with him. They would end up printing out pictures from the internet and try to trick people into thinking they had actually drew them. 

On a hot saturday afternoon, Sarah was sitting out by the pool. it was around 1:30, so everyone was out of the house, doing things for work or play. She thought she had at least three more hours of alone time. She was wrong.

Sarah went to jump in the pool but had realized too late that her bikini top knot was almost completely undone. She caught the slip at exactly the right time. She looked up and saw Link making complete eye contact with her through the sliding glass door, meanwhile she was struggling to tie her top and turned around in complete shame. Sarah knew she shouldn't care since she didn't do anything wrong, but for some reason she was still guilty. A married man saw something in her, and she wasn't sure what to do. 

15 minutes later, Sarah rushed through the house, hoping she wouldn't run into Link. When she got upstairs, she heard two muffled voices. She couldn't help but investigate.

Sarah krept through the hallway, still in her bathing suit with soaking hair. She got close to the sound of the voices, which was Link's office. She immediately recognized the other voice: Rhett. 

She leapt back from the doorway, and silently ran to the back door, this time slamming it to show her presence. The voices stopped so fast that she could hear her breath right as it stopped. She heard the door open and loud footsteps pacing down the stairs. They were coming towards her. She had to be ready. 

Sarah was standing at the fridge pretending to look for something to drink. Rhett and Link walked into the kitchen and looked flushed to see her in her swimwear. They both bashfully looked away as if trying not to be weird; somehow making it even more weird. 

"How's the pool? I was going to fix the temp, but the weather has been so spotty that i didn't bother." Link said, darting his eyes from Sarah's to Rhetts back to the floor. 

"Oh it felt great, a little chilly right when i jumped in but after a few laps i got used to it" sarah said cooly. 

Rhett sat down at the bar, only to be received by a sharp look from Link that said "get back up". Rhett stood casually back up and asked if his kids could come back later to come swim, with the whole family. 

"Oh that sounds great! I'm taking Lily to the mall when she gets back. We could hit the store and get some things to grill burgers if y'all are cool with that?" Sarah said, trying to hold eye contact with Link without making it seem odd. 

"What are you getting at the mall? I actually needed to get some things too, mind if cool dad tags along?" Link looked like he was trying to hold back vomit he was so pale. Maybe he was scared of how rhett would respond. 

"So i'm the dad who would go then?" Rhett smirked. 

Sarah chuckled. "Of course, I'll go get cleaned up and I'll meet you back down? Rhett, bring the family for 7, cool?"

"Sounds cool to me! I'll have Jessie make somethin for the adults if ya know what i mean" 

"Don't worry Rhett, we always know what you mean" Link walked rhett out and sarah made her way to her room. She was happy that Christy was getting home in time for the cookout. She couldn't help but feel guilty for wanting Link in his own house. At least everyone would be therehe


	8. music soothes the soul

Sarah walked into her room to find fresh towels laying on her bed. Maybe one of the kids put them there? She wondered if her old towels were still in the bathroom.  
She made her way to the shower and noticed that the old towels were in fact gone. Act of kindness? Sarah shrugged it off, along with her bathing suit. As she cleaned herself she thought to herself if it was a mistake to invite Rhett and the family over. Christy had not been home in two days and maybe she wanted some time just with her family? Maybe Link would tell her it was his idea.   
Before she knew it, her phone alarm went off to get out of the shower. California was still in a draught, so she never allowed herself to spend more than 8 minutes in the shower. She used one of the fresh towels and noticed that the material was considerably softer than the old towels. Trying not to think of it too far, she went to figure out what to wear to the mall. People in LA treated the mall like a fashion show; you never knew who would be there. 

After settling on some cute high-waist shorts and cropped sweatshirt, she opened her door and heard music coming from Link’s office. She sneaked around the corner to see if he was in there. She nudged the door as lightly as she could as to not make her presence know. The rest of the house was quiet, so it was clear they were the only two in the house. She made the door crack wide enough so she could fit. Just as she went to take step forward she felt a warm breath on her ear and a hand on her wrist.   
“Who are we sneaking from?” Link was standing there, grinning the softest smile and instantly made her chill relax. He was wearing a Beastie Boys shirt, and coincidentally the vinyl that was playing was Licensed to Ill, their first album. He looked so soft and cute.   
“I actually was hoping you were in there” Sarah gasped, trying to hide how excited she was.   
Link opened the door and walked past her pulling her gently to follow. He smelled like hair gel and toothpaste, with a hint of natural musk. She breathed it in until they stopped walking.   
Sarah sat down on the floor next to the record player, and fingered through Link’s collection. The amount of bands that the both enjoyed was amazing. Sarah found one in particular she wanted to hear.   
“Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club? So you only like mainstream stuff huh?” Link laughed, trying to make Sarah blush.   
“Actually, I enjoy everything” Within You, Without You started playing. “Did you know that George Harrison was a Buddhist, and incorporated a lot of is spirituality into their music? This song was almost entirely his own work.”   
Sarah looked up to see Link looking bewildered. Had Sarah just gained a point in his book? She hoped so.   
Link walked over and sat less than inches from her. He leaned forward to find a new record and his knee bumped hers. She felt herself gasp and hoped Link didn’t notice it.   
All Sarah wanted to do was be next to him. Be with him. It was wrong and right at the same time. Maybe if she were to tell him how awkward she felt about the situation, it would be better. They still had not discussed what happened after dinner. How link kissed her cheek, and how she wished it were more.   
Link picked his hand up and rested it on top of Sarah’s. It was warm, a nice surprise since hers were always cold. He looked at her with a soft smile, as if he knew he shouldn’t do it.   
Sarah’s heart raced. Christy could get home at any second. How would she even explain herself? Would she just leave without saying a word?   
She stood up after letting herself think too hard of it. Link looked confused, almost hurt.  
“We had better get going to the mall, we still need to pick up Lily, and I want to have a little time to hangout with Christy before everyone gets here.”  
“Oh. Yeah. Of course. We should go. I’ll go start the car, see you in a few” Link rushed out the door scratching the back of his head.


	9. the mall

Sarah and Link drove in silence on their way to pick up Lily. She had her phone hooked up to the speakers, and kept shuffling through songs to play. In some ways she wanted to impress Link, so she chose to play some Crosby stills and Nash.   
“There’s no way you actually like this.” Link said, obviously trying to open up dialogue.   
Sarah just smirked and shot one eyebrow at him, and sang along perfectly to the lyrics.   
When they pulled up to get Lily, Sarah instinctively unbuckled her seatbelt.   
“Where are you getting out?”  
“Oh, for some reason I thought she was going to sit in the front. Should I stay?” Sarah asked, wanting him to say yes.  
“Stay, I like seein’ ya up here, next to me.” He put his arm on the center console rest, touching Sarah’s.  
“Yikes” She thought to herself.   
Sarah caught herself starring back at Link, seeing the longing in his eyes. What was he missing from his life? What was Christy keeping from him? She had no idea how long they were sitting there, but suddenly the back door swung open and lily jumped in the seat.  
“Hey kiddo!” Link snapped back into the present, Sarah still sitting in bewilderment.   
“Sarah, can you sit back here? It’s hard to gossip about things when you’re way up there.” Lily asked Sarah.  
“How about we wait until your dad drops us off, then we can really talk about the juicy stuff” Sarah said to lily, giving her a wink towards Link’s direction.  
“I see how it is, it’s no longer cool to gossip with your dad once you turn 15, huh?”   
“Dad, it was never cool. Also, you’re not a girl. Sarah and I just click.” Lily laughed as she heard what she had said.  
Sarah shot a glance towards link, and noticed he had moved his arm. He looked at her with warmth. 

Lily had dragged Sarah in at least 6 stores, and was now making her way towards Victoria’s Secret. Sarah had never really shopped there, since $45 for a bra that was mostly padding seemed silly to her. Still, it was nice to look and touch everything.  
They made their way to the clothing section, which was what lily was interested in. She picked up a fluffy jacket, and Sarah couldn’t help but try one on as well. It was faux sheep fur, and Sarah actually wanted it.   
Sarah and Lily ended up getting the same jacket in the same color, Lily more excited than Sarah.   
“Dad is going to flip, we should just walk up to him wearing them” Lily said, laughing to herself.  
“I’m so game! He’ll get a hoot out of it.” Sarah and Lily both put their jackets on and made their way to Express, where link said he was.   
They walked into the “adult store” as lily put it, and Sarah immediately started seeing clothes she wanted to try on. She grabbed a couple dresses and some skirts.   
They saw link looking at the dress shirts. He had two in his hand, a dark red, and a light blue; a hard choice for anyone. He really did look confused, and they made their way to the tall brunette man.  
“Ta da” Sarah and lily said together, one of which had more emphasis. Link looked up confused at first, and then let out a howling laugh.  
“I can’t believe you talked an adult into getting a matching jacket with you”  
“Oh, actually I was the one who suggested it.” Sarah said, smiling a teeth-ey smile, making extreme eye contact.   
“Okay, I’m bored in here. I’ll be in barnes and noble when you’re done.” Lily took off without a trace, and then it was just Sarah and Link standing there, each holding clothes.   
“well, what do you think?” Link asked, nudging towards the shirts.   
“Defintely the red, don’t you have like 6 of the blue?”  
“You’re very right. See you in the dressing rooms” Link looked back to sarah in a “I didn’t mean it like that” look. She got it.  
Sarah had just put the second dress on. It was a black velvet spaghetti strap long dress with a high leg slip. She was admiring herself in the mirror, thinking of where she would wear it. She was on her last pose and suddenly heard a tap on the dressing room door. Was it Lily? Or Link? Or a random person?  
She looked at the shoes of the person standing outside the door: white high-top vans. It was link. Her heart danced, and so did she a little before cracking the door open. Link was standing there, with the red shirt halfway buttoned, with his joggers hugging his toned torso.   
“Wow” Link noticed he was starring and closed his mouth. He raised his eyebrows.   
“That looks-wow. I’m sorry. What do you think about this shirt? Link walked into sarah’s dressing room like he owned it. He stood there, admiring himself in the mirror, trying to button the wrist buttons.   
Sarah couldn’t help but notice how good he looked. He had olive skin, and the red complimented him perfectly. The shirt fit him so well; he looked like a Greek statue carved from marble. His broad shoulders were strong, but subtle.   
Sarah snapped back into reality. “It looks very nice. Good pick on the color.”   
Link knew she was being facetious since she had picked the color.   
Sarah closed the door slightly so people passing by couldn’t peak, not like anything was going on. She stood next to Link and looked at the mirror. She came up just to his shoulders. She noticed that his hair wasn’t so silver in real life; the videos make it so grey. It was still very dark, with more streaks than full grey. He was strong, and stood straight up. Sarah stopped looking at his body and realized he was watching her admire him in the mirror. He held his eye contact with her, and then turned to face her.   
“You really are beautiful. I know that’s inappropriate-“  
“Link why did you and Christy put the ad online?” Sarah had to ask.  
Link snapped out of his gaze. “Listen, I’m going to buy this shirt, and that dress. Meet me at the register. We’ll talk about everything tonight.” And just like that, Link was out the door, and Sarah was alone in her dressing room once again.


	10. the luau

Sarah, Link and Lily pulled into the driveway to see Chirsty’s car. Sarah was happy there was someone else to talk to. She also realized Link bought Sarah a dress, and said dress was in the bag with Link’s stuff. She quickly grabbed the Express bag and yanked the dress out, putting it instead in her Victoria’s secret bag. Lily didn’t see, thank goodness.   
They stepped out of the car and saw the front door open; Jade came running out and lept at Link to pick her up. The three of the walked to the door, Christy coming out to welcome them back. She gave sarah a hug, and grabbed the grocery bags and went inside.   
“Jessie text me that everyone is coming over, they’re bringing drinks. I think they said they’d be here for 7?” Christy said as she opened up Lily’s bags, seeing what she bought.   
“What made you want to get this? Did you buy the rest of the sheep too?” Christy joked, and then saw sarah pulling out the same jacket, and immediately started laughing.  
“Guess who was talked into getting a matching one” Sarah chuckled, her and Lily both modeling their new jackets.   
“Can your mom and I get matching ones too? Maybe Lincoln and Lando as well, new Christmas card?” Link poked his head into the kitchen, Lily heavily rolling her eyes.  
“I felt that eye-roll from here. Let’s go upstairs and see what clothes look the funniest with these new jackets” Sarah and Lily made their way out, but sarah could overhear Link asking Christy where she had been.  
“I told you I didn’t know when I was getting back, thanks for running the plans by me before you agreed to have them over. Please go turn on the hot tub, I’ll go get sarah to help with the food.” Christy scoffed at him and heard a sound that was similar to a palm hitting the counter.   
Sarah felt weird, but continued walking into her room. She set the bag down on her bed, and pulled out the new dress. She wanted to be wearing it with link. She wanted him to say she looked beautiful again. She wanted to dance with him, but not in secret.   
“Sarah, can I come in?” Christy knocked at the door, poking her head in.  
“Of course!” Sarah jumped up. “How was the trip? I’m sorry we didn’t run it by you, I should have realized you’d be tired. As a woman I take responsibility” Sarah said, hoping it would clear the air.   
“Sarah, you don’t have to apologize for anything! It’s just been a long few days and was hoping I could relax with y’all tonight. But it will be fun, we’ll have fun”.” Christy seemed as if she had to force a smile. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Sarah looked at her phone and saw that she had 1 hour until everyone got to the house. 

Sarah heard a knock at the door, and suddenly footsteps running down the hall and stairs to open the door. She put her swimsuit back on, and then a t-shirt dress. Her hair was still damp and wavy from earlier, sort of looking like she was at the beach. She walked over to the bed where she lay the new dress down.  
“One day.” Sarah said to herself, walking out the door to greet the visitors. 

Sarah walked down the stairs into the kitchen, where everyone was settling in and saying hello.  
“Hey sarah, nice to see you! Your hair looks great, what did you do?” Jessie gave sarah a hug and fluffed her light curls.   
“Oh nothing, I went swimming at it decided to cooperate the rest of the day. This would never happen back home. Humidity is the bane of my existence.”  
“Amen girl” Christy came up behind sarah, giving her one of the “adult beverages”  
“Hey sarah, meet Shep and Locke” Rhett walked up, patting her shoulder.   
“hey guys, nice to meet you. Y’all ready to swim? I saw a football and a volleyball out there. Last ones in are cleaning the kitchen” Sarah raced after the kids, struggling to open the porch door on purpose so they all got stuck.   
“I have a feeling they aren’t too keen on cleaning?” Sarah was laughing so hard that she eventually gave in, looking back to see everyone else laughing as well. She raced passed locke and did a huge cannon ball, all the other kids making their way after her.   
“Looks like Lily has dish duty” Jessie yelled to the kids in the pool. One by one everyone else came by the pool. Rhett slowly waded in, whereas Link dove and swam from end to end. Christy and Jessie both went straight to the hot tub.   
Just as Sarah was about to get out and join them, Lando jumped on her back.  
“Can we play football?” Lando asked excitedly, trying to make Sarah fall back into the water.  
“Alright, go get the ball. I’ll stay right here” Lando ran out of the pool so fast that Sarah couldn’t even follow where he had gone. A few moments later, he came splashing in with a bright pink nerf football. Lando was standing on the other side of the pool, waiting for Sarah to throw it as he jumped in. Shepard and Locke did the same. When sarah said go, he jumped in the air as she threw a perfect spiral, which he caught.   
“Woah, where’d you get that arm?” Rhett and Link were both taken back by her throw.  
“I was too competive as a child and needed to be good at all sports. Just don’t ask me to play basketball” Sarah chuckled, getting ready to throw again for Shepard.  
Rhett and Locke both made an audible sigh, making Jessie laugh out loud.   
About ten minutes later and multiple balls caught, Sarah noticed Christy and Jessie had both left the backyard. She wondered if they were inside, and if maybe she could join them in some much needed girl talk. She opened the sliding door to find they weren’t in the kitchen. She walked instead and heard them in the living room. As she was walking towards them, she stopped before turning the corner to listen in on their conversation first.   
“I don’t know jess, I really don’t know how much longer I can be here. Sarah is about the only one keeping me sane, even though I never see her. Lily never stops talking about her. I can’t keep doing this back and forth with Link and John. I need to move.”  
“Christy, cheer up. You have two men who love you. One wants to be with you, and one wants you to be happy. You need to be with the one who loves you. If that’s john, then make the move for yourself.” Jessie was patting Christy on the back.   
“I’m actually thinking about seeing where me and Michael can get” Jessie added. “He’s great with shepard, and he talks to me more than Rhett does. I think im just bored. Please don’t tell Link, I need to tell Rhett on my own.”   
Sarah realized this was not her conversation, and instead ran to the backdoor again. She got to the door and noticed Link was about to come in.  
“Hey, wanna play some ball?” sarah tried to stall.  
“Uh sure, everything okay?” link asked, looking confused.   
“On second thought, I’m going to dip in the hot tub.” Sarah pushed passed him and hopped in.  
Lily, Locke, Shepard and Lando all followed her. The 6 of them were packed in the hot tub to the point where knees were touching each other. By this time it was 9:30, and the younger kids were winding down. Just then, Jessie and Christy came back outside.   
“I think it’s time to get going, gang” Jessie said, Rhett being forced to get up from the ground.   
After about 20 minutes of lingering by the front door, the guests had all gone and it was just Link Christy and Sarah who were awake. Sarah started to clean up, only to be persuaded to go to bed by Christy. 

 

Sarah couldn’t help but feel like she needed to tell someone what she had just heard. But who would she tell? She obviously couldn’t talk to Christy about it; she would then find out that Sarah knew about her affair. Just then she heard a knock at the door.  
“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the studio tomorrow. Rhett will get here around 8 if that works with you. And we’re only staying until 12 so it’s not all day.”  
“Okay, yeah that sounds cool. Will everyone be there or just you?” Sarah asked, mostly trying to see if she could be alone with Link to tell him what she had heard.  
“Yup, full staff so you get to meet the crew. I know they’ll love you.as much as we do. See you tomorrow.”  
“Goodnight, Link” Sarah said, and he smiled his little smirk and closed the door.  
Sarah went to turn her light off when her phone suddenly pinged.   
“I promise we’ll talk tomorrow.” From Link  
She liked his message and then set her phone down. Her stomach danced inside her. She picked her phone back up and decided to watch some GMM. She knew some of the main crew’s names, like Chase, Jen, and Stevie. She wasn’t sure if they were going to actually be nice, or if it was just for the camera. Sarah couldn’t help but think that Mike was pretty cute, in a non-weird way. But was he cuter than Link? Would he be there tomorrow? Hopefully. She out her phone down, this time for good, and fell asleep knowing tomorrow would be even better than today.


	11. good morning, mythical pt.1

Sarah woke up at 6:45, 20 minutes before her alarm. That meant she had an hour to get ready. She checked her phone and saw that it was a sunny 72 degrees in Burbank today. She slid into the shower, and thought about what she was going to wear.   
She picked a cute pair of high-waisted jeans and just a plain white t-shirt; she didn’t want to make it seem like she was trying too hard. She rolled up the jeans just high enough to wear they overlapped her white high-top converse. Sarah couldn’t help but admire her tan skin and how good she looked. It was such a simple outfit, and she did minimal makeup. It was nice to know she didn’t have to put that much effort in to look nice.   
Sarah’s alarm went off, signaling it was time to leave. She grabbed her handbag and made her way into the kitchen, where she saw Link making coffee. Was he making some for her too? She knew he liked just a little bit of milk with his coffee, just like her.   
“Good morning! I heard that you were awake so I didn’t bother to get you up. I assumed you wanted coffee, I but some milk in it. Not sure how much you wanted but I knew you don’t like it black.” Link walked up to her and handed her the travel mug, rubbing her shoulder with his other hand. “You look great, how do you manage to get ready so fast? Christy takes forever.”  
“I guess I was just born flawless” Sarah said, hoping he would know it was a joke.  
“I can see that. Well, the car’s ready so if you’re good we can leave. I’ll meet you out there.”  
Sarah watched him walk out the garage. She put a bit more milk in her coffee, and then looked in the mirror to see if she needed to make any last minutes changes.   
“this is as good as it’s gonna get” she said to herself. Sarah made her way to the car and saw Link was on his phone. Was he texting Christy? Or picking music?  
“Hey, I’ll give you $10 if you can get the name and artist of this song.”   
“Regulate, Warren G and Nate Dogg” sarah said immediately as Link as done speaking. He looked at her with the “I knew you’d get it” face, and nudged her shoulder and smiled his smile.  
“Dang girl”   
“Link we need to talk about something. I’m not even sure I should be telling you but it’s been eating me alive and I need to tell someone.” Sarah kind of shouted, not realizing how much umph she put into that sentence.   
“I knew this was coming. I know there’s so much you want to know. It’s a really hard situation, sarah.” Link looked upset that the conversation had been changed to this.  
“This isn’t necessarily about you and Christy. I mean, I guess it is, but it’s actually about Rhett and Jessie.” Sarah saw link start to scowl, and he shot her a quick glance.  
“Oh? Do tell.” He was equally scared and curious.   
“You need to swear you won’t say anything. Especially to Rhett. At least not yet.” Sarah made him look her in the eyes to answer.  
“I swear, please tell me.”  
“last night I went to find Chirsty and Jessie just to talk, and overheard them talking about new men in their lives” sarah stopped to make sure he was still listening. He nodded his head, signaling her to continue.  
“So you obviously know that Christy is involved with someone else. What you don’t know is that so is Jessie- she’s been seeing someone for two months. Very causally, its sounds. But still, this is bad, right?”   
Link’s jaw would not shut, and was clearly shocked by the news. Should she not have said anything? Should she had said that Christy was in love with the side guy?  
“Wow. I don’t know what to do with that information. Rhett and I don’t really talk about that kind of stuff. He knows a little about what Christy is doing, but not the specifics. To think that their marriage is almost as crazy as mine is kind of refreshing. Is that bad to say?” Link looked at Sarah, needing validation in his thinking.   
“No, I get it. But now that I’ve said this, I need to really know what’s going on with you and Christy.” Sarah needed to know the status of them before she could really let her thoughts and feelings go wild about Link.   
“Okay Sarah, are you ready? Christy and I haven’t been truly in love for over two years. We love each other, but it’s almost like we’re just roommates raising children. She has moved on, and I am finally ready to as well. I’d be lying if this whole nanny thing wasn’t an idea to find someone for me. I didn’t think it would work, but when you walked through the door and I saw you, I knew you were the one. The one who was going to pull me up,, and make me happy again. Christy isn’t happy, I know she wants to leave. And trust me, I want her to leave too. That means I could really get to know you and see where we could end up. Is that too much for you? Please tell me, if so I’ll back off. I just wanted you to know the truth. I’m very into you.” Link said.  
There were about 4 minutes of silence. Sarah sat there bewildered. He really was into her. She couldn’t tell if it was just flirting, but he truly did want her. She almost couldn’t contain herself. She wanted him too.   
They pulled up to the building, and Link put the car in park, but asked sarah to stay in the car for a second.  
“So, how do you feel? I am scared to go work with Rhett for the day, after knowing what you told me. It will be hard to not tell him. What do you think we should do?” Link really did look spooked, and sarah could tell he was purposely waiting in the car.   
“Link, I like you. Now that that’s out of the way, we need to just be normal today. Rhett can’t know what we know, and he can’t know about us. Deal?   
“Deal, my heart is kind of racing. Wanna sit for a couple more minutes? Or until this song is over?” Link blushed and unbuckled his seatbelt.  
“Let’s just go in, we’ll have plenty of time to just sit. I’m also kind of antsy to meet everyone.” Sarah grinned, and started to get out of the car. Link pulled her hand in and kissed it. His large hand was warm on hers. It was nice to feel his touch. She couldn’t help but want to stay in the car.  
“Just follow my lead.” Link said jokingly.   
They walked up to the door and both took a deep breath. Link typed in the code for the door (Which he then told Sarah) and they walked into the building, signaling the work day had started.


	12. good morning,mythical pt 2

Sarah and Link made their way through the back door of Mythical Ent. She had watched a good mixture of old and new episodes of GMM, so she knew how much bigger this studio was than the previous ones. They walked through the kitchen, where Josh just happened to be, sitting on his phone.   
“What’s up chief!” Link said to Josh, who grinned and darted his eyes to me.  
“Oh my bad, this is sarah. She’s the nanny” Link laughed, and started to speak again, but Sarah interjected.   
“Oh really? Hello, I am sarah, the nanny” Sarah shook Josh’s hand, everyone now laughing.   
“I was just looking at recipe ideas for the next food episode. No spoilers.” Josh covered his phone and made his way to the fridge, pulling out milk and eggs. Sarah wasn’t really sure what he planned on making, but was definitely intrigued.   
“We’ll only be here for a few hours. Is Stevie here?” Link asked, crossing his arms.  
“Yeah, she’s in her office. She told everyone that you were bringing Sarah, so they’re all pretty excited to meet her.”  
“Oh great” Sarah felt herself blush, both men now laughing. Link had a concerned face, like he was embarrassed for the crew. It was also nice for the crew to be that giddy about meeting her.  
The only way to get to Stevie’s office, it turned out, was to walk past the entire workforce-all 20 of them. Each had their own desk, and they all turned to see who was walking in with Link. Sarah suddenly felt 20 pairs of eyes on her, and suddenly saw two men stand up at the same time, making their way to her. She recognized them immediately; a tall dark haired and bearded man-boy, and a stockier blonde man with a beard as well. She remembered them as Mike and Alex. Sarah thought Mike was cute in a weird way. She was suddenly nervous, not knowing what she should say or how she should react to the two men who were about to approach her.   
“Hey boys, meet sarah.” Link shoved her a few feet forward, so that she was only about 8 inches from hitting Mike.   
Sarah stuttered “Oh hello. Nice to meet you guys. Who is mike and who is Alex?”  
Mike cleared his throat and put his hand out. He smiled and with a soft voice he said “that would be me. This is my partner and confidant, Alex.”   
Alex bowed, taking Sarah’s hand and kissing it. Sarah noticed her facial expressions revealed how she felt, because Alex quickly stood up, while Mike and Link were both laughing. Sarah was strangely into Mike, and thought he seemed like good people.   
“Hey, if you want we can be Sarah’s tour guide if you need to keep her busy?” Alex said, looking at Link’s face for approval. He nodded, and continued to talk to mike and Alex for a few minutes. Sarah just stood there, thinking about everything that goes on in that building. All the videos she had watched had this huge office space incorporated into them. She secretly hoped that Link would say no, and that she would get to hangout in him and Rhett’s office for the day.   
“Oh, uh sure.” Link looked at Sarah, and noticed that she didn’t look too pleased with the answer. Sarah quickly straightened up and replied with a smile and a nod.  
“We’ll have her back to ya in a bit” Alex said, as he curtsied, signaling Sarah to walk in front of him. She looked back and saw Link waving a dissatisfied wave.   
A short while later, Sarah counted herself saying “hi nice to meet you” at least 12 times. Everyone was very nice, almost too nice. By far her favorite people to meet were Jen and John, along with Mike and Alex, who she had seen the most on GMM. Jen had already gotten her number, and wanted to hangout over the weekend. John invited himself, and soon it became a party of 5.   
Eventually it was Jen, John, Mike, Alex, and Sarah all walking around the building together, just talking about random things and asking her questions. They walked up to Stevie’s office, and knocked lightly on the door. Sarah heard a soft “come in”, and followed the others into the bright office.   
She noticed immediately that Link, along with Rhett, were both in Stevie’s office as well.  
“Well hey, guys! Looks like you’ve made a new friend.” Link called out, motioning for Sarah to come forward.   
“Stevie, this is Sarah, the newest part of the Neal family. I bet y’all will get along great!”   
“Hey sarah, long time no see” Rhett nudged her shoulder. Sarah smiled, but felt guilty just standing by him, knowing what she knew.   
“Nice to meet you! I’ve heard a lot from Link about you so far, even Lily texted me about you. Glad you’re here to keep the Neal’s contained!”   
“It’s been a blast so far, I can’t believe it’s already been a month.” Sarah smiled a teethy smile, and noticed Rhett and Link were both starring at her. She looked away and pretended to look out the window, in hopes the subject would be changed. She wondered if Link was going to tell Rhett what they now both knew. She also couldn’t help but notice how cute Mike was, in a weird way. He had similar color hair to Link’s, and was taller; she liked his vibe. Just then, Jen interrupted the silence and hinted at everyone, including Sarah, to leave Stevie’s office. They followed each other into the kitchen, and all sat down and enjoyed fresh coffee, courtesy of Josh.   
The group of new friends were sitting and talking, when all of a sudden, Sarah felt her phone vibrate.   
“Hey, hate to pull you away from your new friends, but could you come up here real quick?” A text from Link. Suddenly her stomach felt like it had lept to her throat. Did he tell Rhett? Was he wanting her to tell Rhett? Sarah didn’t know if she had the heart to tell him. She had never seen him upset, and was scared to see how it would affect him. She replied back “be there in a minute” and excused herself from the table. She made her way through the hallways and eventually found herself at their office door. She knocked lightly, waiting for them to welcome her in.  
“Come in” a deep voice said. Sarah opened the door and saw both men at their desks, leaving the couch free. She walked to the couch and got situated, waiting for an interrogation.   
“What can I do y’all for?” Sarah asked, her eyes darting back and forth from each tall man. She was hoping it would be Link who answered.   
“Just wanted to see how the mythical crew was treating you. How are they?” Link asked, looking away from his computer to ask.  
“They’re great, much nicer than I thought people in LA could be. We’re all hanging out this weekend.”   
“Oh? Well good. I can watch the kids for the night I suppose.” Link joked, but when he said it, Sarah felt a slight tension.   
“I thought Christy was going to be home this weekend?” Sarah knew her voice sounded as sharp as it felt, and she noticed both Rhett and Link’s eyes squint.   
“Her and Jessie are going on a girls weekend, somewhere in Napa” Rhett chimed in. “Maybe I’ll bring the boys over to your place, Lily and Locke can watch them, and we go out too?” he sounded desperate for Link to say yes.  
“Ya know what, that could actually be a lot of fun, the two of us never go out anymore.”   
“Perfect, well, if that’s it, do you mind if I go back down and hang with the crew? Sarah asked in a mocking tone, and she saw that they both caught on. She smiled and slipped out the door, only to be greeted by Mike.  
“Hi, didn’t mean to startle you- would you mind giving me your number? For business and professional purposes only, I assure you.”   
Sarah could see how boyish he was, and that this simple interaction was out of his comfort zone. She couldn’t judge, because she couldn’t help feel the butterflies that he gave her.   
“Of course, but if you happen to have any non-business questions, feel free to give me a ring.” She handed him his phone back, and they both smiled, walking back down to the crew.   
Sarah hadn’t realized it was already 12:00, and was greeted by Link scooching himself into the group table. No one seemed to mind; the bosses were cool here. The crew didn’t discriminate or feel weird around Rhett and Link, which was nice.   
“Ready to go?” Link asked Sarah.   
“Yup, right behind you”  
Sarah said goodbye to her new friends, saving Mike for last.  
“If you do have any business questions, you know how to reach me.” She poked at Mike. She also noticed that Link was watching their conversations, and quickly darted her eyes to him instead of Mike. He turned his head, and Mike smiled at her.   
Link walked ahead of Sarah on their way out of Mythical Ent., and she could feel he was slightly tense. Was he still upset about the whole Rhett thing, or something else? Sarah couldn’t help but be nervous for the car ride.   
“So, did you get a lot of work done? I know I had fun.” Sarah tried to start easy conversation.   
“Why did you give Mike your number? Do you like him?” Link said sharply.  
“He seemed nice, and it would be cool to make some friends who are over 15.” Sarah sighed, noticing that her answer didn’t ease Link’s mind. “I also gave it to Jen since you’re so curious.”  
Link caught on to her annoyed tone of voice. “Sorry I asked, he just looked at you in a way that made me uncomfortable.”  
“Sorry to hear that, I need friends Link. Your kids are great, but being with people my own age is nice. Plus I don’t want to always be bothering you or Christy with my presence.” Sarah made her tone a bit friendlier, trying to defuse the tension.   
It was quiet for a few moments. Sarah started to play on her phone, and noticed she had 4 texts: Jen had sent her her address in case she wanted to stop by, John sent her an ugly selfie, and Mike simply said hey. She smiled, and started to reply when she heard Link clear his throat. She looked to her side to see him staring at her, as they were in stop and go traffic on interstate.   
“You would never bother me with your presence. Please feel free to bother me as much as you want.”   
He extended his hand, as if asking for Sarah to grab it; she did. She surprised him by pulling his hand so that his was stretched to her thigh. His hands were both soft and worn, and very warm. Sarah rubbed his fingers with hers and couldn’t help but squeeze them. He squeezed back, making Sarah less on edge about her actions. The rest of the car ride was quiet, and the hand embrace lasted until they parked at home.


End file.
